Retractable umbrella

Abstract

An improved retractable umbrella including a canopy, a plurality of extending arms for supporting the canopy, an outer housing having an interior cavity for housing the canopy and the plurality of extending arms, and a collapsing mechanism for pivoting the plurality of extending arms upwardly into a substantially vertical position from an open configuration to collapse the canopy upwardly into an inverted closed configuration thereby allowing retraction of the canopy and the plurality of extending arms into the interior cavity of the outer housing. In one embodiment, the retractable umbrella also includes a displaceable member positioned in the interior cavity of the outer housing and a center shaft extending into the interior cavity and being displaceable therewithin from outside of the outer housing. The displaceable member has a central opening through which the center shaft extends. The retractable umbrella also includes a plurality of extending arms pivotally mounted to at least one of the displaceable member and the center shaft and a plurality of support arms, each having a first end and a second end, the first end being hingably mounted to at least one of the plurality of extending arms and the second end being hingably mounted to the other of the displaceable member and the center shaft. A canopy is centrally supported at an end of the center shaft and peripherally supported at ends of the plurality of extending arms.

What is claimed is:  
     
       1. A retractable umbrella comprising: 
       an outer housing having an interior cavity;  
       a displaceable member positioned in said interior cavity of said outer housing, said displaceable member having a central opening;  
       a center shaft extending into said interior cavity and being displaceable therewithin from outside of said outer housing, said center shaft extending through said central opening of said displaceable member;  
       a plurality of extending arms pivotally mounted to at least one of said displaceable member and said center shaft;  
       a plurality of support arms each having a first end and a second end, said first end being hingably mounted to at least one of said plurality of extending arms and said second end being hingably mounted to the other of said at least one of said displaceable member and said center shaft; and  
       a canopy centrally supported at an end of said center shaft and peripherally supported at ends of said plurality of extending arms;  
       wherein at least one of said canopy and said plurality of extending arms is housed in said interior cavity of said outer housing when said retractable umbrella is in a retracted configurations, with said retracted configuration being attained by pivoting said plurality of extending arms upwardly into a substantially vertical position to collapse said canopy upwardly into an inverted closed configuration and retracting said plurality of extending arms into said interior cavity; said plurality of extending arms are pivotally mounted to said displaceable member, said first end of each of said plurality of support arms is hingably mounted to each of said plurality of extending arms, and said second end of each of said plurality of support arms is hingably mounted to said center shaft and said outer housing includes a plurality of slots for guiding said displaceable member within said interior cavity.  
     
     
       2. A retractable umbrella of claim  1 , wherein said plurality of extending arms are extended outside of said interior cavity of said outer housing by displacing said center shaft inwardly into said interior cavity. 
     
     
       3. A retractable umbrella of claim  2 , wherein said plurality of extending arms are retracted into said interior cavity of said outer housing by displacing said center shaft outwardly from said interior cavity. 
     
     
       4. A retractable umbrella of claim  1 , wherein said displaceable member has a plurality of extension portions that extend out of said interior cavity through said plurality of slots to allow manual displacement of said displaceable member. 
     
     
       5. A retractable umbrella of claim  4 , wherein said plurality of extending arms are extended from within said interior cavity into said substantially vertical position by displacing said center shaft inwardly into said interior cavity, and said plurality of extending arms are retracted into said interior cavity of said outer housing by displacing said center shaft outwardly from said interior cavity. 
     
     
       6. A retractable umbrella of claim  5 , further comprising a displacement limiter on said center shaft for limiting displacement of said center shaft inwardly into said interior cavity. 
     
     
       7. A retractable umbrella of claim  5 , wherein said canopy is expanded from said inverted closed configuration to a fully open configuration by further displacing said displaceable member upwardly after said center shaft is displaced inwardly into said interior cavity. 
     
     
       8. A retractable umbrella of claim  7 , wherein said displaceable member is a substantially annular ring and said plurality of extending arms are substantially rigid. 
     
     
       9. A retractable umbrella comprising: 
       an outer housing having an interior cavity;  
       a displaceable member positioned in said interior cavity of said outer housing, said displaceable member having a central opening;  
       a center shaft extending into said interior cavity and being displaceable therewithin from outside of said outer housing, said center shaft extending through said central opening of said displaceable member;  
       a plurality of extending arms pivotally mounted to at least one of said displaceable member and said center shaft;  
       a plurality of support arms each having a first end and a second end, said first end being hingably mounted to at least one of said plurality of extending arms and said second end being hingably mounted to the other of said at least one of said displaceable member and said center shaft; and  
       a canopy centrally supported at an end of said center shaft and peripherally supported at ends of said plurality of extending arms;  
       wherein said retracted configuration is attained by pivoting said plurality of extending arms upwardly into a substantially vertical position to collapse said canopy upwardly into an inverted closed configuration and retracting said plurality of extending arms into said interior cavity, with said plurality of extending arms being pivotally mounted to said center shaft, said first end of each of said plurality of support arms is hingably mounted to each of said plurality of extending arms, and said second end of each of said plurality of support arms is hingably mounted to said displaceable member.  
     
     
       10. A retractable umbrella of claim  9 , further comprising a spring positioned in said interior cavity of said outer housing for biasing said displaceable member within said interior cavity in a manner to extend said plurality of extending arms upwardly into said substantially vertical position. 
     
     
       11. A retractable umbrella of claim  10 , wherein said center shaft is mechanically connected to said displaceable member in a manner that said center shaft is also biased by said spring via said displaceable member. 
     
     
       12. A retractable umbrella of claim  11 , wherein said plurality of extending arms are extended from within said interior cavity into said substantially vertical position by displacing said center shaft inwardly into said interior cavity, and said plurality of extending arms are retracted into said interior cavity by displacing said center shaft outwardly from said interior cavity. 
     
     
       13. A retractable umbrella of claim  12 , wherein plurality of extending arms are substantially rigid and said canopy is expanded from said inverted closed configuration to a fully open configuration by further displacing said center shaft member upwardly beyond displacement of said displaceable member. 
     
     
       14. A retractable umbrella of claim  13 , further comprising a displacement limiter on said center shaft for limiting displacement of said center shaft inwardly into said interior cavity.